Introduction: Worrywarts and fearmongers: the dangers of magical or misinformed thinking -- A site to behold: the wild west of internet medicine: how to help your doctor, check your symptoms, and Google if you're dying -- Risky business: what ebola and your car have in common: how to put risk into perspective -- Turf wars: an important lesson in correlations: how to understand cause, link, and association -- Get me off your f*cking mailing list: a study worthy of your attention: how to make sense of medical research jargon -- Tipping the scale on a balanced diet: you are not always what you eat: how to filter out the noise on juicing, going gluten-free, detoxing, and GMOs -- Fat-free sugar, organic cookies, and "fresh" produce: a walk through the supermarket: how to read a label -- The true cost of being fortified: supplements, powders, and potions: how to remain vital without vitamins -- Raise your glass: water, water, everywhere: how to be smart without drinking smart water -- Putting the C back in CAM: complementary alternative medicine: how to stay natural while taking your medicine -- Take a shot: the perils of losing the herd: how vaccines save the community, the home, and your health -- Testing, testing, one, two, three: from the outside looking in: how to determine when to get checked, x-rayed, swabbed, or poked -- When 50 is the new 40: drinking from the fountain of youth: how to gracefully, without really trying -- Hyped exercise: climb every mountain: when walking beats running -- Conclusion: Don't believe the hype: Is it all hype?

Abstract:

There is a lot of misinformation thrown around these days, and Shapiro helps readers distinguish between the falsehoods and the evidence-backed truth. Using a blend of science and personal stories, she covers everything from exercise to supplements, diets to detoxes, and medical testing to media coverage, while also providing simple solutions anyone can implement.

Summary

A Publisher's Weekly Best Book of 2018

An engaging and informative look at the real science behind our most common beliefs and assumptions in the health sphere

There is a lot of misinformation thrown around these days, especially online. Headlines tell us to do this, not that---all in the name of living longer, better, thinner, younger. In Hype , Dr. Nina Shapiro distinguishes between the falsehoods and the evidence-backed truth. In her work at Harvard and UCLA, with more than twenty years of experience in both clinical and academic medicine, she helps patients make important health decisions everyday. She's bringing those lessons to life here with a blend of science and personal stories to discuss her dramatic new definition of "a healthy life."

Hype covers everything from exercise to supplements, diets to detoxes, alternative medicine to vaccines, and medical testing to media coverage. Shapiro tackles popular misconceptions such as toxic sugar and the importance of drinking eight glasses of water a day. She provides simple solutions anyone can implement, such as worrying less about buying products labeled organic or natural, and more about skipping vaccines, buying into weight-loss fads, and thinking you can treat cancer through diet alone. This book is as much for single individuals in the prime of their lives as it is for parents with young children and the elderly.

Hype provides answers to many of our most pressing questions, such as:

*Are online doctor ratings valuable and what conditions can you diagnose online? *What's the link between snoring and ADHD? *What does "Doctor Recommended" and "Clinically Proven" mean? *Do "superfoods" really exist? *Which vitamins can increase your risk for cancer? *Do vaccines introduce toxins into the body? *What's the best antiaging trick of the day that's not hype? *Can logging "ten thousand steps a day" really have an impact on your health?

Never has there been a greater need for this reassuring and scientifically backed reality check.

Author Notes

Dr. Nina Shapiro is the award-winning Director of Pediatric Otolaryngology and a Professor of Head and Neck Surgery at UCLA. She is featured in The New York Times , Time , The Wall Street Journal , NPR, and CNN.com among others. She is a regular on CBS's The Doctors .

Kristin Loberg is the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal , and USA Today bestselling co-author of Grain Brain , A Short Look at a Long Life and others. She attended Cornell University and lives in L.A. with her husband and two sons.